Overview & Reviews

Acura is an upscale automaker known for offering cars with impressive levels of luxury, features and performance. It's come a long way in a short time, however, as the history of Acura is relatively brief. Parent company Honda introduced the Acura brand to the U.S. market in 1986 in an effort to create a separate luxury division for its products. At first, it was just a two-car show: the Legend sedan, which was the first true Japanese luxury car sold in America, and the Integra sport coupe and sedan.

Though essentially a marketing creation for the North American market, the Acura brand was immediately successful. Consumers liked the features, performance and upscale image of Acura cars, along with the fact that Acuras were backed by Honda's reputation for reliability and low ownership costs. In 1991, Acura introduced its crown jewel: the all-aluminum NSX sports car, which offered performance close to that of other exotic cars while undercutting them in price.

As Acura's product line grew in the 1990s, however, the company struggled a bit. Some of its products were duds, and it risked alienating loyal customers when it replaced the Legend and Integra names with alphanumeric designations. The company jumped on the hot luxury SUV bandwagon in the mid-'90s with the SLX. Unfortunately, the SLX was just a rebadged version of an Isuzu SUV, and its quality did not match customers' expectations.

For the new millennium, Acura revamped its product range. An all-new SUV called the MDX debuted, sporting numerous family-friendly features, including a third-row seat. The Integra was replaced with the RSX sport coupe, and an all-new entry-level sport sedan called the TSX was introduced after that. A complete redesign of its most popular model, the midsize TL sedan, followed, as did a redesign of its flagship RL luxury sedan.

By mid-decade the NSX was gone, but Acura filled out its model lineup with the street-performance-oriented RDX compact crossover, the TSX wagon and the ZDX, a fastback-styled crossover that placed unique styling over practicality. Today Acura is still trying to find its ideal niche but there's no denying the quality of Acura's vehicles, nor their appealing mix of performance, technology and value.

User Reviews:

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  Very Happy - 2002 Acura MDX
  By WeTwo - November 26 - 1:38 pm

  After five years we still love this car. It has been totally reliable, handles well, has sufficient power for freeway driving and has a surprisingly tight turning radius for its size. Last, but not least, this MDX has extremely comfortable seating in the front and second row (we have never used the 3rd row). We would recommend it highly. We expect ours to be carrying us around for many years to come.

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  MDX Rules - 2003 Acura MDX
  By psaracco - November 26 - 10:00 am

  Very comfortable and smooth ride with a lot of power. All amenities at your figertips.

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  Florida TSX - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Florida - November 26 - 7:43 am

  After 17k miles, it is still a joy to drive. The engine loves to rev and the suspension is smooth and yet still turns in and corners like a 4-door Miata. In fact, having owned a Miata, there is little to choose in that area, but here I have a much more comfortable, roomier and quieter car. I considered the Golf GTI V6 and the Acura RSX. The Golf was not as comfortable and although it may have been quicker, it didnt feel quicker. Also the 6 spd. shift linkage was not nearly as nice as the TSX, but miles better than the 5 speed Golf. The RSX was not nearly as quiet as the TSX, and I preferred the extra room.

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  Great SUV - 2003 Acura MDX
  By posted1 - November 25 - 2:32 am

  Great vehicle. It does everything very, very well while doing almost nothing flashy. If this sounds like you, this is your SUV. Safety is top-notch. GPS is excellent safety / convenience feature. Rear entertainment option is beyond value if you have kids. Rear backup camera is now a requirement on any future vehicle after experiencing it in this MDX. This is a must. We test-drove all competitors multiple times and this car won, hands down, in almost every measurable regard. The Lexus RX was quite nice but did not offer the convenience and functionality of this vehicle. BMW was OK at best. Infiniti was "so-what?". Great vehicle with minor opportunities for improvement.

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  In crossover segment, hard to beat - 2008 Acura RDX
  By Jeremy C - November 24 - 1:34 pm

  Faster and less expensive than the BMW X3, the Acura RDX is about as good as it gets in this segment. It drives like a sports sedan and has plenty of storage. If youre looking at the Murano, you should check out the RDX as well. Its faster and a lot nicer, for only a few thousand dollars more. The SH All Wheel Drive makes accelerating out of a corner nice as well. Overall, Id give it a 9.5 / 10.

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  Loads of fun! - 2005 Acura RL
  By Lessie - November 24 - 4:03 am

  I have been the owner of 2 Acura Legends and 4 RLs over the last 15 years. By far, the 2005 RL is the best ever in every category. The speed and all wheel drive give me a feeling of control that I have never had before. The conversion of automatic to 5 speed is really neat. The list goes on!

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  I love my Acura - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Jadup - November 23 - 4:26 pm

  I love my new Acura TSX so much its fun to drive and with all the safty features I know my family will be safe . What more could you ask for Ive got a safe sporty looking family car .

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  Most reliable car I have owned - 2010 Acura TSX
  By Brian Carter - November 23 - 8:50 am

  I have owned this car for 3 years now and never had to do more than routine maintenance to it (a battery, tires, and oil changes).

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  THE MDX IS WELL WORTH THE $$$$$$$ !!!! - 2003 Acura MDX
  By theinspector - November 21 - 10:00 am

  Ive spent many months researching and test driving other vehicles in the MDXs class. Compared to the BMW X5, Volvo XC90, Lexus RX330,Infiniti FX35/45, the MDX wins hands down! You cant buy a better equipped and safer vehicle for the $$ than the MDX. Also, as with any Honda product, you will never have to worry about reliability and resale values.

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  260 HP - Great Sports Sedan! - 2003 Acura TL
  By E-DUDE - November 21 - 10:00 am

  The best built near luxury car value on the market. I have no complaints other than the engine needs to be “tweaked” a little by the dealer after a 5,000 mile burn in Car is definitely in the BMW class as far as I’m concerned, a lot better value and more affordable Car is comfortable, yet sporty, has great power and handling and is an excellent value for the money. If reliability, great performance, decent styling and good value are important – this is your car! The engine and transmission are finely tuned and work well together, the “S” type is definitely the way to go when you’re going to spend somewhere around $30/k anyway